• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.209-223
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• 2014

The community structure of benthic meiofauna was investigated from seasonal surveys at seventeen stations off the Saemangeum area, in 2007. Ten meiofaunal taxa were identified. Nematodes were the dominant faunal group in all seasons and harpacticoids were dominant only at a few stations. The mean density of meiofauna was 383 indiv. $10cm^{-2}$, highest in May and November (434 indiv. $10cm^{-2}$), lowest in February (284 indiv. $10cm^{-2}$). Meiofaunal mean biomass was $80.49{\mu}gC{\cdot}10cm^{-2}$, highest in November ($99.54{\mu}gC{\cdot}10cm^{-2}$), lowest in February ($51.56{\mu}gC{\cdot}10cm^{-2}$). Cluster analysis revealed that the study area was composed of three benthic meiofaunal communities. There were significant correlations between major meiofaunal groups and sediment composition and the concentrations of heavy metals. The abundance of harpacticoids are positively correlated with silt (0.559, p < 0.01) and clay (0.340, p < 0.01), and negatively correlated with sand (-0.548, p < 0.01). Harpacticoids also showed positive correlations with heavy metals. The community structure of meiofauna in the study area varied seasonally in response to the change of sediment composition.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2016

Feeding behaviour of the manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized by comparing the contents composition in digestive tract of the clam and the phytoplankton community in surface sea water in Gomso Bay, west coast of Korea. The contents of digestive tract comprised diatoms (71.5%), dinoflagellates (13.1%), nannoplankton (6.6%), and detritus including mesozooplankton. The abundance of food organisms in digestive tract of the clam was high in winter and spring, while low in summer and autumn. But The biomass of phytoplankton in surface sea water revealed the highest value in autumn. Also, the larger the clam size increases the abundance of food organisms in digestive tract. The dominant species in digestive tract were Paralia sulcata and Navicula arenaria such as benthic diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts, whereas the dominant species in surface sea water were Chaetoceros, Skeletonema, Asterionellopsis such as pelagic diatoms in genus, cryptomonads, and P. sulcata. Analyses of digestive tract revealed that benthic diatoms especially represent an important constituent of food organisms in the malina clam and different of phytoplankton size and morphology explain preference for food selectivity.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.265-280
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• 2011

The temporal dynamics of the meiofauna community in Marian Cove, King George Island, Antarctica were observed from March 7 to December 21 2007. Nine meiofauna taxa were found, with nematodes the most dominant group, making up 92.97% of the total meiofauna density, followed by harpacticoid copepods (3.18%). Meiofauna abundance ranged from 123 to 874 individuals per 10 $cm^2$ (mean 464 inds.10 $cm^{-2}$), which is lower than that found in some polar and temperate regions. The lowest meiofauna abundance was found in the 26th April sample (III) and the highest meiofauna abundance was found in the March 23rd sample (II). There was no correlation between meiofauna abundance and season. The seasonal changes were likely caused by meltwater runoff, and there were the physical disturbances on the bottom sediment by huge iceberg. Biomass of meiofauna varied between 20.36 and 101.02 ${\mu}gC{\cdot}10\;cm^{-2}$, and overall mean biomass was 54.17 ${\mu}gC{\cdot}10\;cm^{-2}$ during the study periods. More than 80% of meiofauna was concentrated in the upper 2 cm of the sediment, and density decreased with depth. The mean diversity index was 0.37, and the ratio between the abundance of nematodes: and harpacticoids (N/C) ratio ranged from 7.31 to 95.04 (mean 26.39). NMDS analysis divided the community into three groups: A (III, IV, V, VII, VIII), B (II, IX, XI, XII) and C (I, V, X). The results of ANOSIM and SIMPER analysis revealed significant differences in community structure among three groups and major contributed meiofauna taxon in grouping were nematodes and copepods. No significant correlations were observed between major meiofauna taxon and environmental factors. Thirteen species in 12 genera representing nine families of harpacicoids were recorded. Ancorabolidae was the most diverse family, and Heteropsyllidae was the most abundant. The correlation analysis between benthic harpacticoid copepods and environmental factors showed that some species were affected by water temperature, sediment temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a concentration, grain size of the sediments and heavy metal contents of the sediments. These data describe the usefulness of benthic harpacticoid copepods as biological indicator species in Antarctic regions.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.199-212
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• 2009

The community structure of meiofauna was surveyed from six stations in sand mining area near around Sungapdo, Taean five times from April-December, 2007. Ten meiofaunal taxa in total, comprising 5-9 taxa per station were recovered. Nematodes were dominant from four stations in April and from five stations in May. In June, copepods were dominant from all stations except station two, from which sarcomastigophorans were predominant. Copepods were also dominant from three stations in October and four stations in December. The mean density of meiofauna per $10\;cm^{-2}$ was the highest in October (130 individuals) and lowest (68 individuals) in April. Meiofauna mean biomass per $100\;cm^{-2}$ was $3.80-75.26{\mu}gC$ from each station, with the monthly mean biomass being lowest in April ($11.97{\mu}gC$) and highest in October ($39.50{\mu}gC$). The highest biomass was recorded at station five in October ($75.26{\mu}gC$). Eleven families of harpacticoid copepods occurred Ameiridae and Ectinosomatidae were the most frequent. The mean diversity index was 1.21 from all the stations, 1.22 from the sand mining stations, and 1.19 from the reference stations. The nematode:copepod (N/C) ratio was 1.57 from the sand mining stations and 1.37 from the reference stations. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis divided the community into group A (station one, non-sand mining and reference area) and groups B and C in the sand mining area. The present study reports similar numbers of taxa but lower density and biomass of meiofauna compared to previous studies in Korean waters. The variability of the diversity index and N/C ratio may indicate large fluctuation of meiofauna depending on temporal and spatial conditions of the environment in the study area.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.215-227
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• 2016

In freshwater ecosystems, the types of fish parasites are diverse and routes of infection are complicated because they maintain the life cycle in a variety of host animals, The present study investigated the infestation characteristics of parasites occurring in abdominal cavity of Zacco platypus in Seom River from February to October 2007. At the same time, four streams (Gam Stream, Daepo Stream, Yangsan Stream, and Yulha Stream) were also surveyed for the reference of fish infection. Aquatic insects and shellfish predominated benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages by 90.4% and 7.7% of relative abundance, respectively. Aquatic insects were composed mostly of Ephemeroptera (46.8%) and Trichoptera (29.8%), and shellfish was Gastropods. Freshwater fish was most abundant Cyprinid and Z. platypus by 85.7% and 48.8%, respectively. Among waterfowl, Anas poecilorhyncha and Egretta garzetta were dominant in August. Fish parasites observed in the abdominal cavity of Z. platypus was classified as Ligula intestinalis, belonging to Phylum Platyhelminthes Cestoda Pseudophyllidae. L. intestinalis was observed from Z. platypus in October, as the number of one individual in the Seom River and fifteen individuals in the Yangsan Stream. Infection rate of plerocercoid ranged 1.4~15.8%. We discussed the relationship between the life cycle of the parasite and the host, and hope our results to be useful for understanding the ecology of the fish abdominal parasites in Korean river ecosystem.